Gravesend commuters could pay almost £5,000 to work in London this year as season tickets to the capital rise by more than £100.

Fare increases which come into effect today, will see the price of a 12 month standard class ticket including HS1 (High Speed), and access to London Zones 1-6, rise from £4,784 to £4,924, an increase of £140.

The cheapest available season ticket which doesn’t include High Speed rail or access to Zones 1-6 will cost £3,816 for a journey of around 40-50 minutes which gets into London St Pancras.

The whole country has seen rail fare increases, with some commuters facing a 3.1% rise in the cost of their tickets.

Travellers on the Southeastern route between Gravesend and London have seen their ticket price rise by 2.8 per cent.

A Southeastern spokesman said: “We appreciate that nobody likes to pay more for their travel, however there are only two sources of funding for the operation of the railway – government subsidy and the passenger.

“Since 2002 it has been government policy to shift the balance of the cost of running the railway from the taxpayer to the passenger and therefore the government requires train operators to increase fares each year.

“Nationally, around £24billion will be invested in improving rail services over the next five years. Passengers will see the complete rebuild of London Bridge station as part of the £6.5billion Thameslink Programme and locally in Kent, we will continue to see more investment in stations, track and signalling which will allow us to continue to provide an improved service for our customers.”